In her most recent fashion envoy, Lady Gaga has evidently decided to step away from slabs of meat once and for all and into Versace gowns as the face of the fashion house’s S/S 2014 campaign, as announced over the weekend. On Friday, the brand posted a teaser photo to Instagram, following it with a Twitter announcement on Saturday: “#Versace proudly confirms @LadyGaga as the face of SS14 campaign shot by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott #VersaceLovesGaga.”
The teaser already suggests a more seductive approach to lure clientele than in Versace’s F/W 2013 campaign, in which Kate Moss and Saskia de Brauw channel rock-and-roll bad girls. But, then again, Mert and Marcus, are known for their fashion photography of a provocative nature – what with Gucci ads and Interview covers galore – and who better than Gaga to capitalize on this with?
The teaser photo captures the pop icon, lithely reclining on a chaise, in a slinky lilac dress that doesn’t quite cover her applause-worthy curves. The house’s signature Medusa head and weighty, silver accessories don her neck and hands, and her dewy tan, peachy pout and waist-length platinum hair are more than reminiscent of Donatella herself, to the point that one couldn’t be faulted for confusing the two if it weren’t for the campaign’s name, “Lady Gaga for Versace,” gracing the image, too.
Gaga has been touting the brand since 2011, when she wore vintage Versace dresses in her “The Edge of Glory” music video. And recently, Gaga has been a wearing her role as a spokeswoman well. She devoted an entire track on her album ARTPOP, released earlier this month, as an ode to the designer, simply titled, “Donatella.” When hosting SNL mid-month, she made three Versace outfit changes. And this past weekend, she arrived at the American Music Awards perched sidesaddle atop an animatronic white horse à la Lady Godiva, sporting another light purple dress, hardly differentiable from the one in the campaign.
The lovingly collaborative feelings are mutual. In speaking about the campaign, Donatella said, “I wanted to capture her true beauty and spirit in images that are elegant and alluring. She is like family to me, the embodiment of the Versace DNA.” And in an official announcement from the house over the weekend: “Lady Gaga completely captures the Versace essence: creative, experimental, fearless.”
Follow the campaign at #VersaceLovesGaga. The hashtag could easily be reversed; this is no “Bad Romance.”
